Doc says: " "Fix" your dogs and cats!"

Normal Rockwell

There are three very important...the most important...topics I discuss with clients concerning caring for their dogs and cats.
1) spaying and neutering or as we like to say down here in these parts "get 'em fixed"
2) vaccinations
3) heartworm preventative
and oh yeah:
4) listen to the doctor instead of GoogleUniversity.com

so we'll say FOUR most very important topics.

There appear to be a few common <and some uncommon> misconceptions about spaying and neutering cats and dogs.

First, we'll address terminology.

When you spay a dog or cat you remove some of her reproductive organs, her ovaries and uterus, thus preventing her ability to ovulate and become pregnant.
...you cannot spay a boy dog.  or cat.
When you castrate* a dog or cat you remove two of his reproductive organs, the testicles, thus preventing his ability to impregnate his girlfriend.

...you cannot castrate* a girl dog or cat.

<I previously said "neuter" instead of "castrate" but the Hubbs (Dr. #1- he thinks anyway!) suggested (strongly) that I correct this...apparantly SOME people consider spaying a female to be neutering... but I will tell you, that is not how I, myself, roll>

Second,
when you prevent pregnancy you prevent unwanted/ homeless puppies and kittens...
you also prevent potential problems for momma dog or cat such as
dystocia- which is the inability for her to successfully give birth to her babies which will lead to one of three things: surgery, euthanasia, or a long, painful death of the momma.
With all of these death of the puppies/kittens is either possible or guaranteed.

but wait!  there's more!
spaying a female prevents much more than pregnancy.
It prevents pyometra- infection in the uterus which will be fatal unless treated with...you guessed it...surgery.
it can prevent malignant mammary tumors...aka bad breast cancer
it will prevent cancer and other disorders of the ovaries and uterus.

sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me





Third,
when you get rid of a dogs testicles you prevent not only your dumb neighbor dog from getting pregnant and creating more dumb neighbor dogs (or worse...cats)...
but you can also prevent your dog from displaying those oh so annoying and dreaded MALE behaviors...
like...peeing on things...

peeing on your car tires
roaming the hood for bitches (totally used in the definition for female dogs way-hehe)
peeing on your newly planted begonias
roaming the hood and fighting other boy dogs who are also out looking for love in all the wrong places
peeing on your rosemary plant that you would have liked to use for cooking dinner

the tendency to be more likely to growl, snap and be a total jerk

also, peeing on your suitcase which is in the driveway <yes that so happened to me> and having to stop at every tree, shrub, tall patch of grass and even fire ant hill to sniff for ten minutes only to leave about 3 drops of pee at each stop

there are soooo many other things that can be peed on...


ps...this all applies to unwanted behaviors in male cats also:

Fourth,
With cats we also worry about FIV...HIV in cats basically...
having his or her naughty parts in full working order drastically increases a cats chances of getting it...and eventually dying from it. 

not happy times
Plus, if you spay your cat, she won't sit outside and meow all night long to the boys...so she can make six more of these:

who will in turn make 36 more...then 216 more...then...oh ok too much math...

Those are pretty much the most common discussions about spaying and neutering.



Here are some other <sometimes amusing> discussions:

-No, your cat is not in pain or dying...she is rolling around and hollering all weird because she is in heat...and horny...but yes I agree it is a little weird.

-Yes, your very very small Pomeranian "Sissy" can most definitely get pregnant by your Labrador "Champ"...no matter how well endowed he may be, love will find a way.

-Yes, your very very small and vertically challenged daschund "Shorty" can most certainly impregnate your bull mastiff "Lucy"...don't ask me how this happens because I have no idea but these guys are determined and I'm pretty sure it would be hilarious and go viral on You Tube

-No, it will not make him/her fat...but the cheeseburger you feed him/her will definitely pack on the pounds

-No, it will not make him/her lazy...but sitting at home eating cheeseburgers will.

-No, I am not concerned about it inhibiting the growth of her long bones (?)  after all, we are not going to the WNBA, correct?

ah...a day in the life!